Septic toilet tank



July 2, 1929. BENNETT T AL 1,719,418

SEPTIC TOILET TANK Filed Jan. 20, 1928 AMM Patented July 2, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS BENNETT AND AMBROSE D. SLOANE, 0F PERRY, AND JOHN W. FORTEN-BA'UGH, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK, ASSIG-NORS TO KAUSTINE COMPANY, INC., 0]?

PERRY, NEW YORK.

SEPTIC TOILET TANK.

Application filed January 20, 1928. Serial No. 248,171.

This invention relates to septic toilet tanks and more particularly toseptic toilet tanks of that kind which are positioned directlyunderneath the toilets in such a manner that the sewage is droppeddirectly into the tank.

The objects of this invention are to provide a septic tank of this kindwith a series of baflle plates arranged below the drop tube sleeve insuch a manner as to prevent gas rising from the material in the bottomof the tank from passing upwardly through the liquid in the lower end ofthe drop tube sleeve; also to improve the construction of septic toilettanks in other respects hereinafter specified.

In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 is a central sectional elevation of a septic toilet tankembodying this invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof partly in section.

Our invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings as applied toa cylindrical septic toilet tank having its axis arranged horizontally,the tank including a shell having a cylindrical wall A and end walls Band B. The tank includes the usual discharge tube or outlet 5 arrangedin the end wall B, and a manhole 6 through which the tank may becleaned. A tank of other shape than that shown may, of course, beemployed without departing from this invention. A drop tube sleeve 7 orother tubular member is suitably secured in the upper portion of thecylindrical wall A of the tank and extends downwardly to below theliquid level of the tank. The liquid level is, of course, determined bythe lower portion of the discharge tube 5, so that the drop tube sleeve7 extends below the level of the lower portion of the discharge tube 5.The toilet is arranged directly above the drop tube sleeve 7, so thatthe sewage drops from the toilet directly into the tank through the droptube sleeve, no flushing water being used in an installation of thiskind.

In septic toilet tanks of this kind the disposal of the sewage iseffected by fermentation or bacteriological action, resulting in theformation of a scum on the top of the liquid in the tank, the collectionof a sludge in the lower part of the tank, and the evolution of acertain amount of gas from the sewage and sludge in the bottom of thetank. The scum on the top of the tank is essential to the properfunctioning of a septic tank and the breaking up or disturbing of thescum interferes with the proper disposal of the sewage. Consequently byextending the lower end of the drop tube sleeve 7 downwardly below theliquid level in the tank, which is indicated by the broken line 8, Fig.1, the disturbance of the scum is avoided. Furthermore by extending thedrop tube sleeve below the level of the liquid in the tank the gaseswhich collect at the top of the tank cannot escape upwardly through thedrop tube sleeve.

In tanks of this kind as heretofore constructed, the greater part of thesewage is deposited in the tank immediately beneath the drop tube sleeveand conse uently the greatest amount of evolution of gas takes place atthis point, which gases pass upwardly into the .drop tube sleeve, fromwhere they pass upwardly through the toilet. In order to prevent theescape of gases through the drop tube sleeve in this manner, we providea baffle plate or deflector l0 beneath the drop tube sleeve 7. Thisdeflector is arranged at an angle in such a manner that materialdropping thereon slides or is deflected toward the central portion ofthe tank and out of Vertical alinement with the drop tube sleeve 7.Preferably a second bafile plate 11 is provided which is inclined in theopposite manner so that material dropping on the deflector or bafileplate 11 will slide from this plate and drop on the plate 10, whichplate in turn deflects the sewage toward the center of the tank. Thesebafile plates may be mounted in the tank in any suitable or desiredmanner, for example, by means of straps or supports 12 and 13 which havetheir ends secured to the cylindrical wall A of the tank and have theirintermediate portions secured to the baflle plates 11 and 10respectively. The upper edge of the baflle plate 10 may rest against ormay be secured to a portion of the tank.

These bafiie plates in addition to the function described of causing thesewage to be deposited in the portion of the tank not in verticalalinement with the drop tube sleeve 7, also have the further functionthat any gas evolved in the lower portion of the tank beneath the droptube sleeve 7, in passing upwardly will strike the under surface ofeither the baflie plates 10 or 11 and since the upper edges of thesebaffle plates extend outwardly beyond the cylindrical walls of the droptube sleeve, and since the edges of these baflle plates overlap, suchgases will be deflected laterally beyond the cylindrical walls of thedrop tube sleeve 7 and can therefore not pass through the drop tubesleeve nor upwardly through the toilet.

In order that the liquid discharged from the tank through the dischargeopening 5 may be as free as possible from solid matter, a pair ofbafiles is preferably employed, which may be arranged as follows :Asludge bat- "fie or wall 15 is arranged at a short distance from the endwall B of the tank in which the discharge pipe 5 is arranged. Thissludge baffle 15 is in the form of a substantially semicircular plateextending upwardly from the bottom, the peripheral edges of which aresecured to the cylindrical outer wall A of the tank and the flat upperedge of which extends crosswise of the tank approximately half waybetween the top and bottom of the tank. A second baffle 16 is soconstructed that liquid'canpass to the outlet 5 only from the Spacebetween the sludge wall 15 and the end wall B of the 'tank. The baflle16 may be of any suitable construction for accomp'li'shingthis purpose,that shown being semicy'lindrical in form and secured to the end wall Bof'the tank in such a manner that the upper edge of the bathe 16 extendsaround the discharge outlet 5 of the tank and has its upper edgearranged sufliciently above the liquid level, indicated by 8, to preventany of the scum in the tank from escaping through the discharge opening5, and the lower portion of the baflle 16 preferably extends below thelevel of the upper edge of the sludge baffle 15. Consequently liquidfrom the central portion of the tank passes over the sludge baffle 15and must then pass downwardly before it can enter into the baffle 16. pConsequently any solid matter contained in the liquid which passes overthe sludge baffle 15 will tend to continue its downward course andsettle on the bottom of the tank. By'means of the arrangement of thebaffles 15 and 16, only clear liquid free from sludge and scum passesthrough the discharge openin '5 of the tank. Other means for controfiingthe flow of liquid through the discharge outlet of the tank may,however, be provided.

The action within the septic toilet tank is improved if some water isadded from time totime'to dilute the sewage. This may readily beeflectedby draining'the discharge from a wash basininto the septic toilet tank.In order to provide for the introduction of this drain water into theseptic toilet tank, and atthe same time to prevent the escape of anygasesthrough the drain pipe, the following construction is preferablyemployed. 20 represents 'a drainpipe which extends down wardly into thetank, and 21 represents a bathe or wall extending around the drain tank.

pipe 20 and extending upwardly from the bottom of the septic toilettank, the battle or wall 21 in the particular construction shown beingsemi-cylindrical in form and having its longitudinal edges secured tothe end wall B of the tank, and its lower edges to the lower part of thecylindrical portion A of the The balile 21 is also so located that noneof the material entering into the tank through the drop tube sleeve 7can drop into the space confined by the ballle or wall 21. Consequentlythe space within this battle 21 will be filled substantially only withliquid discharged. through the drain pipe 20, and since the sludge willbe kept away from be; low the drain pipe 20 by means of the bathe 21, nogases will be generated below the drain pipe 20, so that no gases willpass upwardly through the drain pipe. Furthermore since the drain pipeextends below the level of the liquid in the tank, none of the gases inthe top of the tank will be discharged through the drain pipe and alsoneither the scum at the top of the liquid level in the tank nor thesludge in the bottom of the tank will not be interfered with or stirredup by water passing into the tank through the drain pipe, which watereventually passes into the intermediate portion of the tank over theupper edges of the battle or wall 21. The construc- 5 tion described hasanother advantage in con nection with septic toilet tanks used incountry schools, churches, or other buildings, which are notcontinuously heated during cold weather in that no other trap need beprovided in the drain pipe 20 than that formed by the pipe 20 and baffle21, and since the entire tank must be located in the ground below thefrost line, or in some other location where it is protected from frost,no 5 freezing of the trap can result. The battle wall 21 also causes theliquid entering the tank to be introduced to the portion of the tank inwhich fermentation or bacteriological action takes place at a lesserrate of flow than that at which it passes through the drain pipe 20,thus further preventing disturbing of the contents of the tank. Thewater entering into the tank through the drain pipe not only helps thedisintegrating action which takes place within the tank, but also, sincea considerable portion of the water entering the tank through the drainpipe will probably be warm, the temperature within the tank is raised bythe addition of such water, which also tends to improve the fermentationor bacteriological action which takes place within the tank. Other meansfor providing for the admission of water through a drain pipe and forforming a trap or seal within the tank may, however, be provided, ifdesired.

The septic toilet tank described is of simple and inexpensiveconstruction and is very effective in its action, and prevents theescape of gas from the tank through the toilet or drain pipe.

Claim In a septic toilet tank the combination of a shell, a drop tubesleeve secured to the upper portion of said shell and extendingdownwardly below the liquid level in said tank, and a pair of baflieplates arranged beneath said drop tube sleeve and inclined downwardlyand toward each other from opposite sides of said sleeve, the lower edgeof one of said plates terminating at a distance from the surface of theother plate, and said other plate extending beneath the lower edge ofsaid first mentioned plate, whereby sewage dropping through said droptube sleeve is deflected toward one side thereof, and whereby gasevolved underneath said tube is defiected laterally by the undersurfaces of said baflles beyond the sides of said drop tube sleeve.

THOMAS BENNETT. AMBROSE D. SLOANE. JOHN W. FORTENBAUGH.

